Ideas needed

[ddahlgren]

I have a used Avalon Pendelton 790 that I bought used and in nice condition other than needed some firebrick. It is obviously too small for my 1870's house and does heat the first floor though if open the door to second story obviously cannot keep up but does take 80% of the load but again an 8 hour burn is out of the question no matter what they claim with a 1.3 sq ft fire box. I have the feeling I need something 50% bigger in output and an 8 hour burn with coals for a relight in the morning. Here is my problem other than burn time and a list.

On a 40 degree day it comes close to carrying the load on a 20 no way.
Will not do an overnight burn so the morning is a start with kindling as almost a cold stove
The over the firebox air tube limits loading to try for a full burn so makes small even smaller.
Another question comes up and that is it better to have a small stove that can burn hot and clean for80% of the time and get a little help on the coldest days or have one that burns slow and lazy 20 % of the time.

Ideas and guidance welcome

Dave

 

[begreen]

Some background material: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/hearth-questions-for-a-avalon-pendlton.79568/

What size is the stove room and how open is this area to the rest of the floor? If replacing the stove, what's the budget?

 

[blades]

Much easier to build small hot fire in big stove than the other way around. Multiple stoves is always a better choice than one, after all they area heaters.

 

[ddahlgren]

Some background material: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/hearth-questions-for-a-avalon-pendlton.79568/

What size is the stove room and how open is this area to the rest of the floor? If replacing the stove, what's the budget?

hi thanks for the reply. The link listed is a question I posed when got the stove. Install delayed because I was going to sell the house and the realtor was against the install. Never got a decent offer so did the install in the fall of 2012. Instead of the cement board shield on the wall I used some .090 brushed aluminum panels. I know they do not hold heat to give off later but really do a good job reflecting it off the wall and into the room. The room is small at 11X17 and has a 2'8" 6"8" door to living room dining room kitchen about 600 sq ft. Then up a stair case to the bed rooms about 600 sq ft as well.. the temperature in the stove room is about 80 the rest of the first floor 74 and bed rooms 64. I will dream up a fan setup to push more air out of the stove room though the 80 degrees sounds hot but on a cold day sure does loosen up sore joints with a glass of wine. I burn the stove just hot enough to have the gases light off on the air tube above the firebox. Slower makes a smokey cold fire and faster does not make a lot more heat at least for me. Burn time is my problem as the longest length is 16 inches and vertical about 11 inches. Avalon claimed and 8 hr burn time but the practical is closer to 2 or 3 at best. They must of had a very slow cold smokey fire trying to get 8. I don't need more heat just more time so guessing a bigger firebox to get more wood in it when it is cold and need an overnight burn.

The budget is small and hoping for some suggestions of what is very reasonable new or might be easy to find on the used market. I have about 800 for the complete install here with stove at 400 used some fire brick the home made floor pad and wall shield and new chimney from Tractor Supply. Whatever tne replacement is it needs to be shallow and wide to fit the room. Wide and tall is ok and 6 inch pipe to fit the new chimney.

Hope this gives enough information.

Dave

 

[ddahlgren]

Much easier to build small hot fire in big stove than the other way around. Multiple stoves is always a better choice than one, after all they area heaters.

Point well taken and was not sure how a big stove with a small fire might work out. Are there some stoves better suited for this than others? Hopefully something that can be had reasonable on the used market or very reasonable new. Iam a bitfond of the glass front so the only other consideration. Just as important what to avoid.

Dave

 

[begreen]

The aluminum panels will work fine as a shield as long as they are still spaced 1" off the walls. For a shallow and wide stove I would go with a side loader like a Quad Cumberland Gap, Woodstock Fireview or maybe a Jotul Oslo. But considering the small budget, I would just stick with the Pendleton for now. To get better heat distribution, blow the cooler dining room air into the sunroom at floor level. A common table fan or box fan running on low speed will do the trick.

 

[ddahlgren]

The aluminum panels will work fine as a shield as long as they are still spaced 1" off the walls. For a shallow and wide stove I would go with a side loader like a Quad Cumberland Gap, Woodstock Fireview or maybe a Jotul Oslo. But considering the small budget, I would just stick with the Pendleton for now. To get better heat distribution, blow the cooler dining room air into the sunroom at floor level. A common table fan or box fan running on low speed will do the trick.

The panels work remarkably well. They are cool to the touch very easy to handle as well and very light. Install time was an hour and done. read the fire code that I found here and with the spacing has the same rating as brick or cement board for a fraction of the work.. I will see if i can take a picture of it and upload it. If anyone wants to do it like I did with the brushed aluminum I would suggest finding metal distributors that have a 'drop zone' that are cut pieces from a large order that are now at a fraction of the real cost. I found 6 16 X48 ones for 30 dollars and paid 30 dollars to have the last 4 inches of the ends bent at a 30 degree angle to generate a better reflector. so pretty cheap to do. Of all things I think I need some smaller splits than I have now as they are very large and can only fit one in and it leaves too much air around it from what i have been reading here.

I need to know more about thermometers and burning wood as the temps seem very critical and something I have not been monitoring. Around here there are no wood stove stores in less than a 1 hour drive but do have a Tractor supply 20 minutes away. I will have to check online and see what they have. The stack probe, is it a lot better than a magnetic one for the stack and are the numbers different than a magnetic one? I would think so as on a round pipe there is very little contact patch for it. it seems like it would mix with room air on the parts not touching and give a false cold reading. Is it possible to go by stove top reading only?

I will give the fan a try tonight as i will do a short burn as took a bad slip and fall and lugging much wood is a task right now but will bring up a half dozed medium sized pieces and the fan from the basement. Slipping on ice and falling on a concrete walk at 60+ is not very pretty nothing broke but plenty sore for sure. I am functional with pain killers take it easy but pretty scary in the morning getting out of bed when they wear off.

I will keep my eyes open for the stoves listed on the used market and do a search to see cost new to get an idea of a realistic used price plus a pic to see what they look like dimensions etc.

Thanks for all the help! You guys are great!

Dave